News: July 2016

Utah is frequently recognized as the nation’s best state for business and having the best economy. Accolades recently came from CNBC, the most-watched business network in the world. In reporting its annual “best state for business” scorecard, CNBC said, “Utah blows by the competition,” well ahead of Texas, Colorado, Minnesota and North Carolina, which rounded out the top five states for business.

Utah spans more than 82,190 square miles and has a population of roughly three million. In contrast, greater Sacramento has a population of about 2.5 million in just under 7,500 square miles. At first glance Utah may seem to lack population density, but if you look closer that isn’t the case.

EDCUtah attended the AUVSI Automated Vehicle Symposium July 20th in San Francisco. The show was composed of over 30 vendors and 1,100 attendes from companies like Ford, General Motors, Toyota, and Hyundai. Discussions and breakout sessions were centered around the rapidly growing driverless and automated vehicle industry.

This is the third consecutive year of this analysis and we continue to refine our methodology to provide the most meaningful comparison of states and countries regarding the manufacturing environment for aerospace companies.

In a few short weeks the outdoor industry will once again make its twice-annual pilgrimage to Utah for the Outdoor Retailer show. We go to do business, of course, but also hopefully to share time outdoors with colleagues, friends and potential customers. Mountains, rivers and trails in Utah and across the country serve as a sort of natural lab and offer a chance to connect with the very thing that motivated many of us to get into this industry in the first place: the outdoors.

AirportXP, a mobile insights platform from Phoenix Marketing International (http://phoenixmi.com/), that allows travelers to share their experience at the 250 busiest U.S. Airports, has revealed the highest traveler-rated airports in the country in regards to parking and getting to the terminal.

When a company considers moving or expanding to a new location they often hire a site selector to assist them in the process. EDCUtah, with the support of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, recently surveyed site selectors to get their thoughts on Utah. Here are five highlights.

While the full measure of EDCUtah's economic development effort includes multiple initiatives, the organizatiion's bottom line is summed up annually in the number of jobs created and retained. For the fiscal year just ended, EDCUtah's efforts totaled 13,411 jobs created and 1,538 jobs retained.

Josh James remembers it like yesterday. At a business event in Silicon Valley a decade ago, he struck up a conversation with a venture capitalist about Omniture, the web analytics company James co-founded in 1996.

How sweet it is! Utah, known as the Beehive State because its people are so industrious, proves its point with a convincing win in our 10th annual Top States for Business ranking. In many ways, this is the culmination of a decade of hard work by the people and businesses of Utah, developing innovative industries, a skilled workforce and a critical mass of companies big and small that is now rivaling Silicon Valley.